[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[May 7, 2008]
[Pages 646-647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Meeting With the House Republican Conference
May 7, 2008

    I'm pleased to be joined by the Republican House leadership. These 
are dear friends of mine who are committed to doing what's right for the 
country.
    I just met with the Republican caucus, the House, and I want to 
share some thoughts with you. First of all, we are committed to a good 
housing bill that will help folks stay in their house, as opposed to a 
housing bill that will reward speculators and lenders. There's a House 
alternative that will do the right thing for the American people when it 
comes to housing.
    I will veto the bill that's moving through the House today if it 
makes it to my desk. And I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to 
focus on a good piece of legislation that is being sponsored by 
Republican Members.
    Secondly, we talked about gasoline prices. No doubt about it, we're 
deeply concerned about the high price of gasoline, which means that the 
United States Congress should not pass legislation that makes it harder 
to increase the supply of crude oil as well as increase the supply of 
gasoline. What they should do is allow for the construction of refinery 
and for environmentally friendly domestic exploration.
    And if--the truth of the matter is--Congress were that concerned 
about the consumers, they ought to make sure that they make the tax 
relief we passed a permanent part of the Tax Code.
    We talked about the supplemental that's moving. I told the Members I 
support $108 billion supplemental without any strings and that we're 
going to work toward that goal.
    I talked about the Colombia free trade agreement. The 
Speaker stopped the bill from moving. All we 
ask is that it be given an up-or-down vote. The bill is in our economic 
interests. If you're worried about the economy, then you got to 
recognize that opening markets for U.S. goods and services will help 
strengthen the economy. And if you're worried about the security in our 
neighborhood, turning our back on a strong ally like President 
Uribe will be--is bad national security 
policy. And the Speaker has got to let this bill come to the floor for 
an up-or-down vote.
    And finally, we talked about FISA. That's the ability for our 
intelligence folks and folks on the frontline of protecting America to 
have the tools necessary to stop Al Qaida from attacking us. And the 
fact that the Democrat leadership refuses to let this vote come to the 
floor is bad for our national security. This vote will pass--this bill 
would pass. It has passed the Senate, will pass the House, thanks to the 
leadership of the Members up here as well as discerning Democrats. And 
yet the leadership refuses to let it come up. And the country is at 
greater risk as a result of not having a modernized FISA bill.
    And so those are the issues we discussed. It's a positive agenda. 
It's an agenda that speaks to the economic interests of the people. It's 
an agenda that speaks to the national security interests of the people. 
And it's agenda that recognizes that we can find the wisdom of the 
American people in their souls, in their hearts. We listen carefully to 
what they think, and we respond in a way that meets their needs.
    And so thank you all for coming. Proud to work with you, and enjoyed 
visiting today. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. on the North Portico at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to President Alvaro Uribe Velez 
of Colombia.

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